Stamps per reward calculator

How to use it

1. 1Type your figures into the calculator. Nothing you type is uploaded or stored. The answer is worked out in your browser.
2. 2Read the result and its caption. The assumptions are shown on the screen beside the number.
3. 3Open the back office to keep your figures. There you see the same answer beside your other numbers.

What it does

• We use what the reward COSTS you, not its menu price. A $5 coffee at 75% margin costs $1.25 to give away.
• One full card is that many paid visits and then one reward. We work out the gross profit those visits leave behind, and take the reward out of it.
• The real discount is the reward against everything the customer spent across the card. On a ten-stamp card at $5 that is $50 spent and $1.25 given back: 2.5%, not 10%.
• We also show how many EXTRA visits the card must cause before the reward has paid for itself. Not visits in total — visits that would not have happened.
• The suggested card length is the shortest one that keeps the reward under a fifth of the profit it produced. A fifth is a judgement, not a law, and it is the number to argue with.
• A reward that costs more than the whole card earns is refused rather than shown as a negative. That is a business problem, not a rounding one.

Common questions

How many stamps should a loyalty card have?

Enough that the reward costs under about a fifth of the gross profit the card produced. At a $5 sale, 75% margin and a reward that costs you $1.25, even a two-stamp card clears that — so the real limit is how long a card a customer will finish. Most shops land between 8 and 12.

Is a ten-stamp card a 10% discount?

No, and this is the most common mistake. Ten stamps means the customer paid for ten visits and got one item. The item costs you its cost, not its price. At a $5 coffee and 75% margin that is $1.25 against $50 spent: about 2.5%.

Should I count the reward at its menu price?

Only if you would otherwise have sold that exact cup to someone else and turned them away. Almost no shop is in that position. Use what it cost you.

What if my card is too generous?

Lengthen the card rather than cheapening the reward. A smaller reward is noticed immediately; one more stamp is barely noticed and does the same arithmetic.

Does a longer card mean fewer people finish it?

Yes, and that is the trade. The tool shows how many months a regular takes to fill one at their usual rate. Past about three months most people stop thinking of it as theirs.

Does this work for a salon or a barber?

Yes. Use the average service price and its product cost. A card that takes ten haircuts is a year and a half for most customers, which is why service businesses usually reward on five or six.

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